i have to make 2 notable exceptions to your otherwise astute observation.1. My Mum. She is a yoda of video games. Has been since the Sinclair ZX spectrum. I remember clearly having a marathon gaming session with the guys when Tekken 2 came out. I went 8 hours straight in 'winner stays on' rules. A few weeks later mum asked if she could have a go. Chose Yoshimitsu 'cuz he looks cool', had a couple of matches 1 player, then proceeded to beat me 4 times in a row Been the same on every damn console fighter she ever played.

2. My wife. most of our courtship took place over 'strip tekken tag' and absinthe She is a fighting game ninja, but to be fair, she was a good fighter in real life till her back problems.

It was my Mum's 60th birthday in September, the family clubbed together and got her an Xbox360 and a copy of Oblivion. Made her day (she cried and everything) since then my dad says its akin to being a widower (to be fair, he spends a fair bit of time playing tiger woods on their PS2)

Den and i have been known to settle minor disputes over fighting games 'winner chooses take out' -that sort of thing.

My mum bought her copy of Oblivion over when she visited a couple of weeks ago- I played her copy for about 30 mins, then went out and bought my own. Just Cause and Dead Rising have both been gathering dust since that day. Its not a game, its another life

That means that you ignored the 1st mates warning, boarded the ship, killed the pirates and stole the nirnroot from the captains table- thats naughty, I would never have done that i bacame a vampire this morning- there i was catching some sleep in an inn (paid 20 gold for the room and everything!), one dream about some git drinking from my neck later, i am a bloodsucking fiend! Fortunately, i am a goth, my character is a dark elf and his Arena grand champion name is 'Shadowstepper', so it is actually a very cool character development, but i can see how some could become quit upset about that sort of thing